The Line is the monthly newsletter of the American Alpine Journal.
Kim Chang-ho below Bakma Brakk in the Karakoram. Kim soloed the 6,200-meter peak by the line shown, one of four solo first ascents in Pakistan in the summer and fall of 2003 that had not been described in English publications. Photo by Kim Chang-ho.
Historic Summer
At the AAJ, we love uncovering little-known climbs from the past. The 2023 AAJ, which is now being mailed out to AAC members, includes several previously unpublished tales from as far back as the 1970s. But none tops our story about a singular summer in the life of Kim Chang-ho, who died in 2018, at the age of 49, at the base of Gurja Himal in Nepal.
Kim Chang-ho was perhaps the most accomplished mountaineer from Korea. He was noted for high-altitude ascents such as a south-north traverse of Nanga Parbat, a new route up the south face of Gangapurna, and the first ascents of Batura II and Himjung. He climbed all of the 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. However, less well known outside Korea was his solitary exploration of the mountains of northern Pakistan from 2000 to 2004.
Kim below Haiz Kor in the eastern Hindu Raj mountains.
In AAJ 2023, Korean climber and journalist Oh Young-hoon provides details of four solo first ascents of 6,000-meter peaks during the summer of 2003, when Kim was 33 years old. He spent more than three months that summer and fall wandering through the Little Pamir, Hindu Raj, and Karakoram ranges, climbing and exploring previously untraveled passes, alone or with inexperienced porters and hikers. Rarely has the freedom of the hills been so richly expressed. Oh based his AAJ story on Kim’s unpublished journals and on articles for Korean magazines, and we’re excited to bring it to English-speaking readers.
For more on Kim’s life and climbs, check out Oh Young-hoon’s “Local Hero” piece for Alpinist, published in the fall of 2021.
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The North Cascades High Route
Speaking of unfettered travel through the mountains: Last summer, climber/runners Jenny Abegg and Kaytlyn Gerbin stitched together a mega link-up in the state of Washington, traveling 127 miles, north to south, through the high country of North Cascades National Park. “It’s no secret that this style of travel has grown more popular throughout the last decade or so,” Abegg writes in AAJ 2023. Climbers want to go faster and lighter; runners want to go bigger. In Washington’s Cascades, mountaineering routes have become common ground for those looking for that engaging cocktail of endurance and skill.” The North Cascades High Route took seven days. Here’s a small gallery, generously shared by pro photographers Nick Danielson and Steven Gnam.
See a 17-minute film of the North Cascades High Route here. We’re also happy to say that Jenny Abegg is joining the AAJ editing team and will be working on some Climbs & Expeditions reports for the 2024 edition.
Farewell to Two Greats
This summer the climbing world lost two greats of international mountaineering: Dmitry Pavlenko and Ermanno Salvaterra.
Svetlana and Dmitry Pavlenko on the north face of Free Korea Peak in September 2022.
Pavlenko and his wife, Svetlana, and two clients disappeared during an attempt on 7,439-meter Pik Pobeda in Kyrgyzstan in late July. Dmitry Pavlenko gained fame as a key member of two large teams that climbed big-wall-style routes up the west face of Makalu and north face of Jannu. More recently, he based his guiding business and climbing attention in the Ala-Archa mountains of Kyrgyzstan, climbing the steep north face of Pik Svobodnaya Koreya (“Free Korea Peak”) many times, including several new routes. The most recent of these came last September, when the Pavlenko couple climbed Chumba and Raccoon (800m, ED+ 6b A3), a new line reported in the next AAJ.
Ermanno Salvaterra, who died in a fall in mid-August in the Brenta Dolomites, near his home in Italy, was famous for his visionary routes up the biggest and steepest walls of Cerro Torre in Patagonia—the south face and the east face—along with the first winter ascent of the tower. In 2005, Salvaterra teamed up with Alessandro Beltrami and Rolando Garibotti to climb El Arca de los Vientos, the first complete route up the north face of Cerro Torre. Salvaterra’s feature story about this climb in the 2006 edition was his final article for the AAJ.
The AAJ extends its condolences to the family and friends of these two climbers.
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The Line is the newsletter of the American Alpine Journal (AAJ), emailed to more than 80,000 climbers each month. Find the archive of past editions here. Interested in supporting this online publication? Contact Billy Dixon for opportunities. Questions or suggestions? Email us: aaj@americanalpineclub.org.